


the ark

by brkln99



Category: Brooklyn Nine-Nine (TV)
Genre: M/M, and when jake is a teenager, just read you'll see, set just after jake and sophia break up, slight mention of sophia
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-12-21
Updated: 2017-12-21
Packaged: 2019-02-18 01:38:54
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 3,809
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13089720
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/brkln99/pseuds/brkln99
Summary: jake is assigned the coolest case of 2015 so far. it's just too bad that the only lead he has is from his ex-boyfriend.





	1. Chapter 1

Grand larceny, extortion, assault, the list goes on - these were just some of the crimes Gabriel Lyons had committed. Jake had been hunting the man down after he was assigned a fresh case of mugging and the witness description matched him perfectly. Lyons was dangerous: a large man from description, tall and lean, with black hair in a ponytail. Gruff looking man. ties to high end drug dealers. Never been arrested for any of his crimes. Lyons, although a bit of a thug, was the real deal. And he was all Jake’s to catch.  
He grinned. This was the best case of the year so far.

“Charles! Charles, Charlescharles, guess who already has a lead for his super cool robbery case? Hint: it’s-a me!”  
“You?”  
“Yeah! Victim described the guy as 6’2, big shoulders, gruff face… ringing any bells?”

“Is it Terry?” Scully chimed in.

“No, Scully, shut up.” Jake waved a dismissive hand.  
“Tall, lean man with a black ponytail. I’ve got a feeling this is Gabriel Lyons we’re dealing with!”

“Oh my god, Jake, you’re gonna catch him!”

“I know! The woman said he only took her phone, and then took off down an alley on 7th, which means he only needed a phone for a quick reason - which means he’s probably about to make a deal. So, he’ll be contacting associates to organise a meet and find a location. So, they’ll be more active - so they’ll be seen more often - so all we need to do is ask the public to keep an eye out and contact us if needed and we’ll bag some of Brooklyn’s biggest brutes!” Jake took a large breath of air in.

“You are the greatest detective this world has ever seen.”

“Thanks Boyle,” He said, grabbing his coat and heading towards the elevator. “The hunt is on.”

-

The hunt was not on. 

After a half-hour or so of door duty, Jake’s initial optimism was beginning to drain: He’d found nothing. No neighbours saw Lyons that night - although, to be fair, it was 2 AM in a dingy alleyway. This case had seemed so full of opportunity. It was exactly the kind of thing he needed to focus on instead of his recent breakup with mega-fox Sophia. But it seemed like Lyons was lucky so far. Jake sighed, reminding himself that surely someone witnessed something.  
Standing at the entrance of the 7th Ave alleyway, he decided to wander down it in search of anything to help him - hey, perhaps he dropped the phone here after using it. Syringes and cigarette butts littered the floor. Jake let out a slight “waoaah!” after narrowly missing stepping on top of a disposed, very used condom. 

“Man, New York is disgusting. Why does anyone even live here?” Jake said to himself, tiptoeing around dead rats and discarded trash bags. Kicking a trash bag out the way, he reached the end of the hellish alley evidenceless and returned to his car to head back to the precinct. He decided his defeat was worth the treat of a sad Taylor Swift song.

Four songs off the Red album later, Jake returned to the Nine-Nine, parking his car and checking his phone. Amy had texted.

Peralta! Get back ASAP; there’s a witness here for you!

“Yes!” Jake yelled with a sudden enthusiasm, punching the air and hitting the roof of his car. “Oh man, I’m so glad no one saw me do that.” Still, it seemed his case still had hope. Climbing out of his car and shutting the door with an extra pizzazz, Jake headed for the elevator, ready for whatever juicy details this miracle of a witness could spill. Go on, civilian, you phenomenal being, tell me what you saw, and help me clean the streets of Brooklyn! Jake had a quick flashback to the grimy alley, shuddered, and stepped into the elevator doors, pressing the button and pretending to telekinetically shut the doors as all children do. He imagined what it would be like to finally arrest Lyons. Pretending that he’d be physically strong enough to take him down by himself, he’d put the cuffs round Lyons’ wrist and say something really cool, and the nasty punk would be sent to prison after avoiding it for a lifetime. And all he had to do was wander on down to his desk and have a smooth chat with the witness. Piece of cake.

He had thought. 

Until he stepped through the elevator doors on the correct floor and looked over to his desk.  
Jake stopped in his tracks. He tensed up and wondered how the hell he was going to get out of this one. The man at his deck looked shocked to match.

Sitting in the chair was none other than Noah Marsh: Jake’s ex-boyfriend.

-

Rewind a couple decades until Jake is seventeen, and is sitting in his local library, trying to work out what on earth a surd is and how you’re supposed to use it. If he’s going to be a super badass cop then he’s got to at least pass his exams.

He’s just about to give up, letting his head drop to the table with a groan, when a voice chuckles quietly, and a guy sits down next to him - even though there’s plenty of empty tables. Jake doesn’t really notice at first, due to his head being down, but it’s when he lifts it back up that he sees the guy grinning at him slightly, then quickly turning back to his own work.  
He has wavy hair and hazel eyes poking through rounded frames, a soft sort of vibe coming from him.  
Jake feels very hot and queasy and out of place, so he turns back to his work.

“Need a hand with that?” The guy then says, after a while.

Jake laughs nervously in response. 

“Aha, um. yes, actually, I have no idea what I’m doing.” he says, and smiles at him for about six seconds before stuttering an “Oh, I’m Jake. by the way. Um.”

“Nice to meet you, Jake!” he smiles a cute (not cute) little smile, and shakes his hand.

“I’m Noah.”

Jake laughs quietly again. he’s sort of forgotten how conversation works.

Through the next hour or so, Noah proves himself extremely smart, and great at explaining to jake how on earth you rationalise surds. Jake’s sure he would’ve remembered it if he hadn’t been staring the way Noah bites his pen, or runs his hand through his floppy hair, or wondering why the guy was bothering to help him out in the first place.  
But somehow by the time he leaves, he has his number.  
“Call me if you ever need more help!”

After the interesting afternoon,Jake spends the evening grinning to himself and, when she finally asks him why he’s so giddy, gushing to Gina, who looks perpetually bored. 

“...and I know I sound like a fourth grade girl but I don’t know what to do, do I call him? I wanna be his friend but he said to call if I needed more help, and I don’t need any more maths help right now and I don’t wanna bother him if he might be busy- hey, do you think he’d let me try on his glasses? I wonder if he’s blind without them-”

“JAKE.”

He goes completely silent.

“Are you listening to yourself?”

“Yes, I know, I sound like-”

“You’ve got the hots for him.”

“I what?” Jake says after a moment, his face twisting in grotesque confusion.

“You’ve been talking about him for ten minutes, nonstop. Take a hint from yourself, girl.”

“But…but I’m a-”  
“Guy, yeah …”

“But he’s als-”  
“Also a guy, yes, lord, you are slow.”

Jake goes quiet, which is especially unusual.

“Gina, no.” He says quietly.  
“Okay, but-”

“No Gina, that's- that's so weird! I'm not- I don't... - just no!.” he sighs and the room falls silent.  
"Okay." Gina says. 

When Jake arrives home later that evening, his mother is still out working, so he steals a cookie from the stash and collapses onto the couch. It’s then that his clunky cell phone beeps.

Hey jake, it’s noah, your math buddy:) x

‘Oh,’ thinks Jake, ‘that’s cool. This is not a big deal, because he’s just a friend. He’s just my math buddy, smiley face.’  
Because of his detective ambitions and tendency to overthink, Jake begins to analyse the message. He comes to a conclusion that either he should be happy or terrified about.

Noah has used commas and apostrophes which take so much more effort on a nine-key cell phone.  
‘your math buddy:)’ sounds a bit like flirting.  
Noah used a kiss - ‘x’.

Either noah is just a nice jokey guy with polite manners and the will to use grammar in a 1996 text message, or Noah feels the same way about Jake as he does to-

No, that’s not right. Noah wouldn’t feel any ‘same way’ because Jake doesn’t feel a ‘way’ towards Noah like that.

Honest.

He sighs, and wonders how to reply.

hey noah, 

‘fuck,’ he thought. ‘what next?’

hey noah, u got the right number

‘no, i sound like i want to kill him.’

hi noah, its jake!

‘no, he already knows it’s me!’

he sighs. ‘who knew texting your… math buddy, could be so hard?’

hi noah, glad you texted

‘oh man, is that too clingy? do i wanna be clingy? or do i not reply at all? no, that’s mean…’  
‘it’s just a text to a friend. just send it.’ he thought. ‘although... he used a smiley face. and a kiss.’  
Jake decides to just go for it. pressing three extra keys, he sends the text and drops his phone onto the floor, pressing his face into the couch.

hi noah, glad you texted x


	2. 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> more present, more past

Jake slowly sits down at his desk, letting his brown satchel bag sag onto the floor. He makes no eye contact with the man in front of him who appears to feel just as awkward - though slightly angered. He breathes in, drags his eyes over to Noah (sat in the chair on the side of his desk) and initiates conversation.

“Noah.”

The wavy-haired man looks down at his feet, and then away to a further part of the floor - anywhere Jake’s face isn’t. Amy, sat on the opposite desk to Jake, takes notice of the odd dynamic of their greeting.

“Jake.” He nods quietly. Jake taps a few keys into his keyboard and creates a file for the witness statement. Noah hasn't changed much in thirteen years, save for wiser eyes and skin less baby-smooth. Time has been kind to him. Jake holds his breath as he types in the forename and surname: MARSH, NOAH

“So, uh,” Jake begins with a cough, stilted, “You’re here as a witness?”  
“Yeah.” Noah replies. “I overheard something with a guy who matched the description of, uh, that guy you're looking for.”  
“Could you elaborate, please?” Jake says, unusually monotonous. Noah brings his eyebrows down. There is a cold pause before he replies.

“It was last night, the 19th, at around half one in the morning. I was going up the stairs to my apartment and I heard two guys mention something about an angel’s servant, if that means anything?”  
“Can you describe these men to me?” Again, without Jake’s usual expressive tone. His enthusiasm for the case seems to have drained, even with a newfound lead. Amy notices this and pauses for a second to wonder why.

“Well," Noah begins, and Amy notes that he sounds mildly uncomfortable and irritated, "one of them was like, short, boney, and had pretty greasy dark brown hair, and the other was average height, sort of muscly, with straight brown hair and I think green eyes.”  
Jake typed in this description, before pausing and rummaging through a pile of documents. He drew out two photos that matched Noah’s description and held them up.

“Did they look anything like this?”  
“Yeah, that’s them! That’s the guys I saw.” Noah responds. The tension of the conversation's beginning appears to be melting.  
Jake sniffed and sat up a bit, putting the photos back and nodding to himself.  
“They’re associates of Lyons.”  
“Who?”  
“Gabriel Lyons, big-time thug about to make a big-time buy. Wait.” Jake explained before shutting himself up and freezing in thought.  
“Gabriel, angel. Angel’s servant… What did you hear them talking about?”  
“Uh, yeah, they mentioned, uh. Storing a saviour with the Angel’s servant… that’s all I remember, sorry.”  
Jake looks up at Noah with the apology, and they lock eyes for no longer than two seconds before glaring in any other direction.  
“The Angel… the angel Gabriel. They’re storing something with Gabriel’s servant? He doesn’t have a servant…” Jake quietens again.

A couple of silent moments pass.

Jake is frozen in thought.

Several seconds pass.

BUTLER!

“BUTLER!” He announces. “Butler Street! There’s an old storage warehouse on Butler Street, Lyons used to hang out there all the time. So they’re meeting with a saviour… - heroine!" Jake snaps his fingers in realisation. "Heroin! Man, drug dealers are so creative these days. Okay. They’ve set up a heroin deal at the warehouse on Butler Street. Now we just need to figure out when.”  
“You’re welcome.” Noah says dryly. Jake looks down with what seems to be slight embarrassment. That’s not something Amy’s ever seen before.  
“Peralta, maybe it’s tomorrow? Sunday?” Amy pokes her head round the computers.  
“How come?”  
“Well, they kept using biblical ideas, ‘angel’, ‘saviour’... maybe it’s a nod towards the date.”  
“That’s it! Yes, Amy you genius! I’ll type that up and let Holt know.” Jake grins, and then turns to Noah, the atmosphere turning cold and barren again.  
“Could you tell me where this was, please?”  
“Outside room 47A of the Lincoln Avenue apartment complex.”  
Silence.  
“Thank you. That’s all we need.” says Jake. 

 

1996

 

A couple weeks go by, and Jake has had a couple conversations with Noah over the phone - nothing special, except how they’ve possibly become the highlight of his day - and occasionally seen him around school. Jake tries not to think about how much he likes talking to Noah, how funny and kind and smart and soft he is, as well as how much they have in common: they both have a secret obsession with *NSYNC, they both pineapple is the best fruit, they both believe in equality...

Sometimes he comes and sits with Jake and Gina at recess - always with a different kind of fruit - and laughs with them and is keen to learn about both of them.

“What are your plans for the weekend then, guys?” He asks one Friday morning.

“Well,” Gina interrupts before Jake can say anything, “We’re gonna have a movie night, you know Ghost? I’ve never seen it, but Jake’s girlfriend says it’s great. Hey, wanna join us?”

“Ouhh,” says Noah. He seems deflated. Gina makes note of this.  
“Uh, I don’t wanna intrude or anything.”

“Oh, no, come along! Bring your own girlfriend if you want.”

Noah laughs, nervously and a twinge of what is either embarrassment or sadness. “Oh, no, I don’t- uh, I don’t have a girlfriend.”

Gina looks at Jake for a second with one raised eyebrow.

“Really? How interesting. Hey, anyway, come along if you want. 8pm, Saturday, Jake can give you the address!”

“Th-thanks, guys.” He says, rejoining his own friendship group.

When they’re sure he’s out of earshot, Jake panics.

“Gina! My girlfriend’s house? What was that about?”

“Trust me girl, he's into you.”

“What?”

“Didn’t you see his face when I said you were taken? He looked like I’d just told him his dog's heart operation was unsuccessful. And how does a guy like that not have a girlfriend?! He's cute. He's nice. He's got those weird thin circle glasses. Any girl would throw themselves at him. Actually, from what I’ve heard, like half his year already thrown themselves at him, but he’s refused all of them. Take a hint.”

“Hey, being single doesn't make you gay.” Jake argues, albeit quietly, almost mouthing the dreaded 'G' word.

“Lance Bass.”  
“Lance Bass?! Come on, Lance Bass is not-.”

“Sure, whatever.” Gina says, dismissively. “But that’s not the point. The point is, why would Noah be sad about you having a girlfriend? 

“Gina, stop it.”  
“Because, he’s:”  
“Gina.”  
“G!”  
“Stop-“  
“A!”  
“-it!”  
“Y!”

“Gina, you’re being a bitch.” Jake says coldly.

“Excuse me?”

“You’re being intrusive and disgusting and forcing stuff to happen! It doesn’t matter what Noah is because he’s my friend, period. So stop it.”

Gina sighs.  
“Fine. But I'm still right.”

After this unfortunate squabble, Jake avoids Gina for the rest of Friday, ignoring her in the only class they have together that day (maths) and wasting about 4 minutes standing awkwardly in the school bathrooms to make sure he wouldn’t have to walk home with her as usual.

But avoiding one problem only ever sprouts another: as Jake washes his hands, jazz-hands the water off and goes to lean against the Push bathroom door, it is Pulled from the other side open a split second beforehand, causing him to topple over, squeaking in surprise, and collide with the abdomen of the door-opener, who just so happens to be Noah. As if the universe just wanted to make sure Jake knew it hated him. Unsurprisingly, Noah wobbles significantly but doesn’t fall, able to find his balance and catch Jake before he falls completely over. In an odd frenzy of limbs, Jake is supported from the armpits and saved from a complete loss of dignity - although it’s definitely taken a hefty blow. Untangling himself from the web of arms and stomach, Jake finds his cheeks burning.

They stand in awkward silence for a second, Jake unsure of what to say in embarrassment, before Noah snickers lightly.

“You okay?” He quietly laughs.

“Uh, yeah, except I think I’ve bruised my reputation as a cool mysterious dude who knows how to use his own limbs.”

Noah laughs again, and Jake is so busy being embarrassed that he forgets that he’s standing in Noah’s way of the bathroom.

“Oh! God, sorry, you wanna come in.” Jake apologises, moving back into the bathroom to let Noah past. 

“Thanks. Oh, and uh, Jake?”

“Yeah?”

“I was thinking about what Gina said, and... would it be okay if I do come to that movie night?”

“What?”

“You know, the one tomorrow at your girlfriend’s house? Uh, is it okay if I do come along? I don’t have any other plans and I figured it’d be fun.”

“Oh, yeah, no, uh, sure! Of course!”

“Great! Fun! Great. Yeah. Fun. Great, I can’t wait to meet her and hang out with you guys! I bet she’s a great, fun person, considering her boyfriend.” Noah says calmly, again with a twinge of Something Else.

“Yeah! Great! Totally? She’s, uh, wonderful, and… alive...”

“I’d... sure hope so.” Noah says, confused and shifting from one leg to the other. “Could you give me the address?”

Jake panics internally. “Uh. Um. Well, you see... Oh, wait, how about we walk up together? She, uh. She doesn’t live far and I can pick you up from your house along the way! Not literally pick you up, that’d be weird. A-and I don’t have the arm strength for that. Not that you’re heavy, or- uh, no, you’re a completely average person. In terms of weight! Average weight, I should’ve clarified that. You’re not average in like, personality. Gah, that's harsh. That's not what I meant. Is there even an average personality?”

“Jake?” Noah puts his hand on Jake’s shoulder. The small gesture is enough to jolt him.  
“Huh?”  
“You were rambling. As much as I would’ve loved to hear it all, I gotta pee.”  
“Oh god, of course, sorry. Uh, anyway, I’ll see you tomorrow then, Noah!”  
“See you then, Jake.” Noah smiles quietly and turns away to walk towards the urinals.

“Yup! Okay! Bye! Goodbye!” Jake backs out the bathroom and it dawns on him that he’s either going to have to cancel on Noah and let him down, or sort things out with stupid Gina and have the night at hers (as already planned before stupid Gina went and made up a stupid girlfriend for Jake). 

Sighing, he knows what he has to do. He runs as far as he can to try and catch up with Gina who, unsurprisingly, has only walked to the end of the road and seems to be distracted by a tortoiseshell cat. So much for trying to avoid her, the 4 minutes he tried to put between wouldn’t have mattered anyway. He manages to catch up to her just as she stands up to leave the little thing.

“Gina,” Jake begins, panting and regretting running down the road.

“What’s up, Jake? Here to yell at me for telling you the truth and then ignore me all through math?”

“I’m sorry.”

“Yeah, you should be!”

“Well- I mean, you’re still also in the wrong.”

“Excuse me?”

“Well I asked you to stop talking about me and Noah but you kept saying stuff that obviously made me uncomfortable.”

“Okay, fair point. Fine, you’re getting an official once-in-a-decade Gina Linetti Apology. I’m sorry if I hurt your feelings, but I did it because you needed to hear it.” 

That’s as much as he was going to get from Gina, he thought.

“Good enough. And I’m sorry for getting pissed at you. I was being the bitch and I’m sorry.”

“You’ve apologised three times now.”

“Yeah, I didn’t like it. Hey, so, uh, update on the Noah situation:”

“-he proposed, the wedding’s in a month, you’re adopting?”

“Gina!”

“Sorry.”

“One, stop doing that or I won't forgive you again. Two, he’s changed his mind about movie night and decided he wants to come along and meet my nonexistent girlfriend.”

“Oh dang, I did not see that coming. Eeeuughh, I guess we can just say she had to cancel and have it at my place?”

“That was my plan exactly!”

“Good, then I can get us blankets, make hot cocoa and snacks,"  
"Right! It'll be awesome!" "-leave the room when that potting scene comes on,-“

“What did I say one minute ago, Gina?". The mentioned sniggers at his pinkening face.

“Okay, I’m sorry, it’s just funny seeing you embarrassed.”  
He sighs. “Please, for the sake of my sanity, can you stop... insinuating things?”  
“I’m not insinuating anything. I speak only the truth. And the truth says you're into Noah.”  
The silence that follows Gina's words is serious and tense. Jake feels queasy, scared, and certainly not ready to address why.

“Look, I don't wanna have this conversation right now.”  
"Okay. But we're going to talk about this. I'm not gonna let you bottle anything up or get all emo on me."  
"Thanks."


End file.
